HIGHLANDS RANCH MEDICAL-MARIJUANA GROWER SENTENCED TO FIVE YEARS

A federal judge sentenced a self-described Highlands Ranch
medical-marijuana grower to five years in prison Friday, saying the
man "miserably failed" to follow the law.

Christopher Bartkowicz - whose basement marijuana-growing operation
was raided by Drug Enforcement Administration agents last year on the
day an interview Bartkowicz conducted with 9News was to air - also
was sentenced to eight years of supervision following his release
from prison. Bartkowicz is the first person in Colorado to serve
federal prison time for actions he maintained were legal under
Colorado's medical-marijuana law.

But federal District Court Judge Philip Brimmer rejected that
assertion Friday, saying Bartkowicz grew more plants than state law
allows and never met many of the patients who used his marijuana.
That, Brimmer said, means the case is not an example of the federal
government's interfering with state law but rather fits with
Bartkowicz's three prior state-level marijuana convictions. Any
marijuana growing is illegal under federal law.

"He's choosing to violate state law again, and he's cultivating
marijuana," Brimmer said.

Agents seized more than 100 plants from Bartkowicz's house when they
raided it in February. Bartkowicz said he was a medical-marijuana
caregiver to several patients and sold the rest to legal dispensaries.

Prosecutors and Bartkowicz agreed to the sentence length as part of a
plea deal Bartkowicz signed in October. Bartkowicz lost a bid to
raise a medical defense in the case, which left him with little legal
cover. Because of his prior drug convictions, Bartkowicz could have
received a life sentence under the original charges.

Joseph Saint-Veltri, Bartkowicz's attorney, said the deal was the
best his client could hope for but said the resolution was still surreal.

"This all seems like a script written by Lewis Carroll," Saint-Veltri
said during the hearing, in reference to the "Alice in Wonderland" author.

"Hundreds of (marijuana) plants," Saint-Veltri added later, "are
being cultivated within a mile radius of this building as we speak,
and they will continue to be cultivated . . . because the people of
Colorado want that to happen."

Federal authorities said they targeted Bartkowicz because he grew
more plants than Colorado law allowed, because he had prior drug
convictions, and because his operation was about two blocks from a school.

"Five years is a long time," Assistant U.S. Attorney M.J. Menendez
said during the sentencing hearing. ". . . It's going to allow him
time to get treatment, and it's going to give him time to reflect on
what brought him here today."

Outside the federal courthouse before the sentencing, about 20
medical-marijuana activists gathered to protest. They held signs
bearing messages such as, "Cannabis is not criminal," and they
accused the DEA of making an example out of Bartkowicz in retaliation
for the 9News interview.